DOCSLIB.ORG

Jazz in Poland. Improvised Freedom | Pol-Int

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Jazz in Poland. Improvised Freedom | Pol-Int Pol-Int MONOGRAPHIE Jazz in Poland. Improvised Freedom Beitrag vom: 16.03.2016 Rezension von Dr. Lisa Jakelski Redaktionell betreut von Dorothea Traupe Poland in the 1950s and 1960s boasted a jazz scene of remarkable vibrancy. State-sponsored festivals in Sopot and Warsaw gave audiences the chance to hear jazz performers from all over the world. Local groups crafted their own sound, releasing seminal recordings such as the Krzysztof Komeda Quintet's Astigmatic (1966). The sounds of jazz permeated the films of Andrzej Wajda and Roman Polański. An important part of Poland's cultural and social history during the post-Stalin Thaw, jazz remains a lively element in the country's contemporary musical life. Igor Pietraszewski's Jazz in Poland: Improvised Freedom investigates Polish jazz as both a historical and present- day phenomenon. The second in the Jazz Under State Socialism Series edited by Gertrud Pickhan and Rüdiger Ritter, this book is part of an ongoing effort to understand the significance of jazz in the cultures and societies of East-Central Europe. Pietraszewski is ideally placed to carry out such a study. His experiences as a jazz saxophonist and board member of the Jazz on the Odra Festival in Wrocław give him an insider's insight into the musical world he describes. His training as a sociologist, on the other hand, enables him to approach his subject with an outsider's detachment. Pietraszewski draws on survey responses, interviews, print and other media sources, and scholarship by sociologists and cultural historians in an analysis that proceeds systematically from theory to data. Pietraszewski's theoretical framework is indebted to Pierre Bourdieu's insights on prestige and the power dynamics of cultural production. Chapter One summarizes the concepts that form the basis of Pietraszewski's study; his explanations of "habitus," "capital," and "field" will be most useful to readers who are not already familiar with Bourdieu's work. Pietraszewski then applies these concepts in chapters that investigate the structural constraints that have shaped Polish jazz as well as the strategies of the individuals and groups that have acted within them. Chapter Two traces the history of jazz in Poland from the 1920s until the early 2000s, noting major figures as well as the effects of war, political upheaval, economic transformation, and technological change. Interviews constitute the basis of Chapter Three, which considers how jazz musicians view themselves and their art. The contemporary audience for jazz appears in Chapter Four, which presents the results of a survey Pietraszewski conducted at the 2009 Jazz on the Odra Festival. The thread that ties these chapters together is the idea of freedom, which, Pietraszewski reveals, has been a constant throughout jazz's Polish history. Pietraszewski understands the link between jazz and freedom in two ways. Drawing on notions of autonomy that are typically ascribed to Western art music, and which have become associated in Poland with jazz, Pietraszewski discusses freedom as an internal property of the jazz field, by which he means that jazz musicians have the latitude to shape their art in the ways they see fit. Pietraszewski also describes the freedom of jazz as relative, emerging in the comparison between fields. He shows that, for its audiences and practitioners, jazz has been thought to offer experiences and possibilities that other forms of cultural production and social interaction do not. He locates the start of jazz's association with freedom in the "catacomb period" of the late 1940s and early 1950s, when Polish party-state officials condemned jazz as part of socialist realist cultural policy. As a result, a taste for jazz became a sign of resistance, and, for artists, ties to this era became a source of prestige. Pietraszewski is careful to point out that claims of Stalinist-era persecution may be overblown. But once the link between jazz and resistance was forged, it stuck—even as jazz musicians began to receive approbation and state support during the post-Stalin Thaw, and even as their training and subsequent career trajectories became increasingly professionalized. Comments by Pietraszewski's interviewees indicate that perceptions of jazz musicians as free-spirited non-conformists continue to be relevant in present-day Poland, where these musicians face the challenges of navigating a market economy. Pietraszewski's complex investigation of the relationship in Poland between jazz and freedom is one of the book's primary strengths. Other aspects of the book would have benefited from similar nuance. Pietraszewski's reluctance to engage with questions of race is a missed opportunity. He explains this decision as motivated by his respondents: because they did not focus on issues of race, Pietraszewski concludes that race "had no effect on the development of jazz music in Poland" (15). Considering Pietraszewski's willingness to probe his informants' comments on jazz and freedom, it is surprising that he would accept their responses at face value here—not least because his historical evidence suggests that the story is considerably more complex than he makes it out to be. One of the reviews Pietraszewski cites uses racialized terms to condemn jazz interpretations of Chopin's music in 1922 (40- 41), whereas an article he references from 1930 attributes jazz's appeal to its "wild," "Anglo-Saxon-Negro" character (42). If, in present-day Poland, jazz has indeed ceased to be understood according to racial categories, then this marks a shift from the ways this music was apparently understood during the interwar years. Pietraszewski's study would thus have benefited from a more thorough discussion of the ways in which jazz has become decoupled in Poland from connotations of blackness, and the extent to which this decoupling has facilitated perceptions of jazz as an elite art music. The book would also have benefited from a more complex analysis of jazz as a genre. Pietraszewski convincingly demonstrates that, as far as its audiences are concerned, jazz in Poland has consistently been the province of social elites. It is not entirely clear, however, whether the earliest, interwar audiences viewed jazz itself according to the elite art music terms with which it is now associated. It would have been helpful to learn more about how jazz came to be understood as an art music in Poland, and whether certain styles of jazz were (or continue to be) viewed as more prestigious than others. Pietraszewski could also have done more to explain the criteria underlying his value judgments. For example, in his analysis of the audience survey data in Chapter Four, he claims that jazz is more difficult and complex than other genres of music, such as rock and pop. He also suggests that, within jazz as a genre, "older, traditional jazz styles, for instance New Orleans jazz, Dixieland, and swing . are easier to listen to" (134) and hence more likely to be favored by audience members whose engagement with jazz is more sporadic than sustained. The rationale for these evaluations is not sufficiently explained, nor is the presumed connection between prestige and musical complexity sufficiently interrogated. Despite these shortcomings, Pietraszewski's compact volume makes a valuable contribution to the growing literature on the cultural politics of jazz in East-Central Europe. Sociologists, cultural historians, and musicologists will find much to interest them in this book; the vivid anecdotes from Pietraszewski's interviewees are especially compelling, and the survey data provides a snapshot of one segment of Polish cultural life circa 2009. Most importantly, Jazz in Poland makes trenchant observations about the complex, negotiated nature of cultural freedom in various political and economic circumstances, while raising vital questions for future research. ��� Zitierweise: Dr. Lisa Jakelski: Rezension zu: Igor Pietraszewski: Jazz in Poland. Improvised Freedom, 2014, in: https://www.pol-int.org/de/node/2503#r3949. https://www.pol-int.org/de/node/2503?j5Q6rewycZ5HtUDXTWpx7UZE=1&r=3949.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1St International Zbigniew Seifert Jazz Violin Competition / PROGRAM
    / PROGRAM 1st International Zbigniew Seifert Jazz Violin Competition 16th – 19th July 2014 / Lusławice, Kraków A Competition held under the Honorary Patronage of the President of the Academy of Music in Cracow, in cooperation with the “Emanations” Festival and the Summer Jazz Festival at Piwnica pod Baranami. Organizer: Partners: The Competition project has been made possible by the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Małopolska Province and Kraków City Council. Media Patrons: 2 1st International Zbigniew Seifert Jazz Violin Competition 16 JULY 2014 7 pm The European Krzysztof Penderecki Centre for Music in Lusławice semifinal auditions 17 JULY 2014 7 pm The European Krzysztof Penderecki Centre for Music in Lusławice semifinal auditions 18 JULY 2014 7 pm The European Krzysztof Penderecki Centre for Music in Lusławice final auditions 19 LIPCA 2014 r. 7 pm Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Cracow gala concert www.seifertcompetition.com 3 n love with the music of John Coltrane, he originally took up the saxophone, and soon afterwards - set up ZBIGNIEW his first ensemble, the Zbig- Iniew Seifert Quartet, where he played with Jan Jarczyk, Jan Gonciarczyk and Janusz SEIFERT Stefański. Uncompromising and very daring in their artistic AN ICON OF THE JAZZ VIOLIN aims from the very start, they won the 2nd (1968) and then the Born in Cracow, he was associated with that city almost 1st (1969) prize at the Jazz on throughout his life. It was there that he completed primary and the Oder Festival, while Seifert secondary music schools and where he graduated from the himself took individual prizes.
    [Show full text]
  • Jazz: a Celebration of Freedom
    Two Freedoms, Two Independences 61 Megan Roy Will Jazz: A Celebration of Freedom Introduction Jazz has long been a symbol of freedom in the United States. Born out of racial strife and ethnic tension, this art form provided an escape and opportunity for those living in a post-Civil War America. Developed around the turn of the 20th century in New Orleans, jazz gained popularity and began to change, adjusting to the current cultural climate while maintaining its meaning of freedom and personal independence. A message like this could not be contained, and soon spread around the globe across radio airwaves and by means of traveling musicians. Many nations welcomed this music that bore the mark of freedom, but few embraced it as exuber- antly as Poland. After the fallout from the Second World War, the Polish nation was thrown into the dark ages of communism. It was during this time that jazz was clung to as a symbol of freedom, and a means of individual expression. Adopted and fostered by Polish musicians, jazz began to take on new and different sounds, eventually leading to the invention of a uniquely Polish style. The purpose of this article is to investigate why jazz stands as a symbol of freedom in both the American and Polish cultures, and how the ideas of freedom and independence are expressed through this music in each country. Historical and Cultural Context Jazz is considered a truly American invention, one that emerged in the late nine- teenth century largely due to the mixing of various peoples and the tension that resulted from the American Civil War.
    [Show full text]
  • Recorded Jazz in the 20Th Century
    Recorded Jazz in the 20th Century: A (Haphazard and Woefully Incomplete) Consumer Guide by Tom Hull Copyright © 2016 Tom Hull - 2 Table of Contents Introduction................................................................................................................................................1 Individuals..................................................................................................................................................2 Groups....................................................................................................................................................121 Introduction - 1 Introduction write something here Work and Release Notes write some more here Acknowledgments Some of this is already written above: Robert Christgau, Chuck Eddy, Rob Harvilla, Michael Tatum. Add a blanket thanks to all of the many publicists and musicians who sent me CDs. End with Laura Tillem, of course. Individuals - 2 Individuals Ahmed Abdul-Malik Ahmed Abdul-Malik: Jazz Sahara (1958, OJC) Originally Sam Gill, an American but with roots in Sudan, he played bass with Monk but mostly plays oud on this date. Middle-eastern rhythm and tone, topped with the irrepressible Johnny Griffin on tenor sax. An interesting piece of hybrid music. [+] John Abercrombie John Abercrombie: Animato (1989, ECM -90) Mild mannered guitar record, with Vince Mendoza writing most of the pieces and playing synthesizer, while Jon Christensen adds some percussion. [+] John Abercrombie/Jarek Smietana: Speak Easy (1999, PAO) Smietana
    [Show full text]
  • 'Helikon' Was Also a Favourite of Zbyszek Seifert's. Both His Quartet
    man of the light. THE LIFE AND WORK OF ZBIGNIEW SEIFERT The ‘Helikon’ was also a favourite of Zbyszek Seifert’s. Both his quartet and (later) Stańko’s quintet held their rehearsals there, and that’s where he played his first jazz concerts. It was in this club that he met jazz musicians and fans. As its musicians became more and more popular, the Jazz-Club found it could not seat all the audience and so concerts began to be held in other places. Nonetheless, the first steps on the ensemble’s career path were inextricably linked with that magical place. Jazz-Club “Helikon”. From left: barmaid, NN, Jan Jarczyk, Zbigniew Seifert, Jan Gonciarczyk, Adam Matyszkowicz. Archive of Małgorzata Seifert Jazz-Club “Helikon” membership card. Archive of Małgorzata Seifert 36 The music studies and Jazz Ensembles The Career of the Zbigniew Seifert Quartet The Quartet’s official debut took place in November, 1965, during the th14 Cracow Jazz Festival, the so-called Cracow All Souls Jazz Festival at Krzysztofory, where the jam sessions were held. Andrzej Jaroszewski enthusiastically hailed their performance as foreshadowing the coming of a new generation of jazz musicians, the debut of a modern jazz band. In a brochure entitled “Cracow Jazz Festival – 14th Edition”, Krzysztof Sadowski wrote: On Friday evening the second debutant was Zbigniew Seifert, an alto sax player influenced by John Coltrane and Zbigniew Namysłowski. From the latter, he took the pure intonation and confident presentation of frequently complicated melodic phrases. Especially in the theme of McCoy Tyner’s “Three Flowers” the whole ensemble gave us a sample of solid modern jazz.
    [Show full text]
  • Adam Fulara & Fool-X Trio
    Adam Fulara & Fool-X trio Adam Fulara (born 1977) – musician, composer, guitarist, and playing a unique guitar approach – two- handed tapping. He is a master of computer engineering and a computer science collage teacher. Musical life events -1994 – graduation from Entry Level Musician School, Ostrzeszow, accordion class. 1992 – start to play guitar, 1996- start to play with two-handed guitar with usual guitar. - 2002- elaboration of innovative type of tapping – so-called “Portato” style and designing a special kind of musical instrument: doublenecked guitar, which can be used for playing a particularly unique technique. - 2003- first reviews of Adam’s recording in “Guitar and Bass” (musicians’ magazine) – since then they have published about Adam regularly – concert of Fool-X for Opole Polish Radio -2004- certified teacher of Master Class on Bach Playing during European Tap Seminar 2004 and 2005 (Neufachateau, Belgium, English, look at the picture) and also music…. In Poland (in Grodzisk Wielkopolski, Warsaw, Koszalin, during jaZZlot Festival 2003, 2004 and 2005) – he was awarded for the best musician in the Polish National Jazz Festival in Sieradz (jury consisted of well-known names such as Marek Napiorkowski, Henryk Miskiewicz, Dorota Napiorkowski). - Cooperation and concerts with well-known polish jazz and fusion musicians like Krzysztof Misiak, Artur Lesicki, Arkadiusz Skolik, Dariusz Ziółek (including playing with them in a framework of “JaZZlot 2004” and “JaZZlot 2005” festivals: www.jazzlot.org) -2005 – Adam is the winner of The National Competition of Guitar Improvisation in Kielce (called “Gitarowe Harce”). The competition is open for all guitar players in age below 30. – Adam has recived honourable (special prize) for “ expanding jazz guitar area ” in "Guitar City 2005" Jazz Guitar Masters Comepetition in Warsaw – most prestige jazz guitar competition in Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • Birth of the Cool
    Mateusz Smoczynski, Violin David Balakrishnan, Violin, Baritone Violin Benjamin von Gutzeit, Viola Mark Summer, Cello Birth of the Cool Reaching for lyricism and gentler textures as a reaction to the fiery sounds of bebop, the renowned musicians who performed on the seminal recording, Birth of the Cool, consider it a tipping point towards the style that became known as “Cool Jazz.” The living embodiment of cool, Miles Davis, and his colleagues, Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, etc., set the table for a slew of legendary groups that shared their vision. From the Modern Jazz Quartet and Gunther Schuller of third stream music, to the west coast sounds of the Dave Brubeck Quartet with Paul Desmond, to the iconoclastic melodic lines of pianist Lennie Tristano, their particular brand of innovative genius echoed into the myriad jazz fusion blends of the seventies and eighties. Ultimately, this created the perfect conditions for an audacious group of four string players equally grounded in jazz improvisation and classical technique, to split the Eurocentric string quartet atom. In addition to employing their signature groove-based rhythmic techniques to transform classic selections from the recording of Birth of the Cool such as Israel, Venus De Milo, and Jeru into jazz string quartet masterpieces, the two time GRAMMY® winning Turtle Island Quartet will take a wide swath through the many other avenues traversed by these intrepid explorers of cool. Perennial favorites such as Dave Brubeck’s Blue Rondo A La Turk and Gerry Mulligan’s Bernie’s Tune conjoin with Miles Davis’s dreamy Miles Ahead, and the Modern Jazz Quartet’s darker Django.
    [Show full text]
  • Summary of Professional Accomplishments
    SUMMARY OF PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS The music in my family home has accompanied me from an early age. I remember my Parents watching and listening to broadcasts of Chopin contests (as they had free time) on radio and on television. As a child I listened almost continuously to tapes from the American rock-jazz group Blood Sweat & Tears. In addition, I was able to enjoy a rich home record collection that included classical and jazz recordings and Polish 1960s music. I liked listening to recordings of such artists as Novi Singers, Woody Herman, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, Marek Bliziński, Czesław Niemen, Marek i Vacek, Sławomir Kulpowicz, Tomasz Stańko, Adam Makowicz, Krystyna Prońko, Krzysztof Sadowski, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Krzysztof Ścierański, Krzak, Dżamble, Polanie, Czerwono-Czarni, Niebiesko-Czarni, Skaldowie, Alex Band, Laboratorium, Walk Away. My first contact with a real instrument took place at the age of three in a kindergarten. The beginning of my music education began with the admission to the pre elementary department at Music School of 1st and 2nd degree in Sanok. After a year of study I was admitted to the first grade of the first degree music school in the piano class without extra audition. At the same time I started my education at regular primary school. Attending two schools in parallel did not make much of a difference. The six years of my first education have passed relatively quickly. In July 1994 I took part for the first time in the 1st International Summer Jazz Academy in Krakow, conducted by eminent educators from the USA and from Poland (eg.
    [Show full text]
  • The Best of Polish Jazz
    PRESS INFO JAZZTOPAD FESTIVAL AND THE POLISH CULTURAL INSTITUTE NEW YORK present JAZZTOPAD FESTIVAL PRESENTS: THE BEST OF POLISH JAZZ WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2017 - THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017 DIZZY’S CLUB COCA-COLA, NATIONAL SAWDUST, JOE’S PUB, THE JAZZ GALLERY, MILLENNIUM STAGE, TD VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, TD VICTORIA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL “The Jazztopad Festival, a leading event of its kind in Poland…”– Nate Chinen, The New York Times “…top flight musicians will celebrate improvisation on stage in the homeland of Jazz, the United States…" – Bonnie Johnson, WICN “Colors of Jazz” “The Jazztopad Festival brings together the jazz movement that is happening in Europe to the USA…” – Tim Longo, Sneek City “…Jazztopad stands as an internationally renowned festival with a clearly defined ethos, one that combines a strong respect for the traditions and roots of the music with a progressive vision that provides a platform for the contemporary and innovative.” – Ian Patterson, All About Jazz For the third time, a special edition of Wroclaw’s Jazztopad Festival will be held in the United States and Canada, in partnership with the Polish Cultural Institute New York and with support from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. This June, leading Polish jazz and contemporary music ensembles and artists Wójcinski/Szmanda Quartet, Stryjo, Marcin Masecki, Jerzy Rogiewicz, and the Lutoslawski Quartet will perform in New York, Washington DC, and Vancouver. Distinguished artists from previous editions of Jazztopad, including Erik Friedlander, Mark Feldman and Sylvie Courvoisier, will join the Polish musicians. Artists from Poland will play at the prestigious Jazz at Lincoln Center, at The Jazz Gallery, eclectic Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center, and at the popular TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival.
    [Show full text]
  • Monday 15 July 2019 9.00–10.30 Opening Session Polish Music
    Monday 15 July 2019 9.00–10.30 Opening session Polish music: heritage, processes, media Presented by the Organizing Committee Chair: Stanisław Hrabia (IAML President, Jagiellonian University, Kraków) Marcin Gmys (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań) Archives and white spots: scholarly perspectives for recovering Polish Music Artur Szklener (The Fryderyk Chopin Institute, Warsaw) Digital humanities tools for music: implementation in the ‘Heritage of Polish Music’ project Daniel Cichy (Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne – PWM Edition, Kraków) Publication and performance: making Polish music known to professionals and music lovers The complex editing of a composer’s music is usually a task of many generations. Unfortunately, such natural processes – including early commercial editions, premieres of the works, their multistage recognition by critics, musicians and audience, further incorporation in historiographies of a nation or academic and critical editions – were impossible for the great majority of European music created in the territory of Poland from the second half of the 18th century to the moment of regaining Polish independence; in some cases, even until the change of the political system in 1989. As a result, a great part of the oeuvre of over one hundred composers has not been published. Among the compositions there are outstanding works, but also just interesting ones. In consequence, they are unknown not only to audiences all over the world, but even to Poles themselves. Making up for lost time, almost two centuries, requires complex, synchronized actions of a multidimensional character. Contemporary technologies make it possible to speed up the work, increase its synergy and provide open access to the results. The aim of the presentation is to show actions as part of the “Heritage of Polish Music” multi-year program, held by The Fryderyk Chopin Institute and PWM Edition under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
    [Show full text]
  • Leszek Możdżer
    Leszek Mo żdżer Komeda ACT 9516-2 German Release Date: June 24, 2011 For many years, jazz and classical music trod a common path of mutual enrichment, with Bartók to Stokowski and Horowitz on the one hand, and Art Tatum, George Gershwin and even Benny Goodman on the other. This relationship was fractured by the break in culture caused by the Second World War, and despite several attempts – for example, the “Third Stream” movement at the end of the 1950s – it took a long time before the exchange between the two most important trends in art music became matter of course again. If jazz is today once again regarded as the “second classical music”, it is because of artists such as the Polish pianist Leszek Mo żdżer. The classically trained pianist was born in 1971. While he didn’t discover jazz himself until he was 18 years old, he quickly made a name for himself and is today celebrated like a pop star in Poland, where he has played with the country’s most important jazz musicians including Tomasz Stanko and Michal Urbaniak. Since 1994 until the present day he has been voted, almost without exception, the best pianist of the country by the Polish Jazzforum magazine. Mo żdżer has also made a name for himself internationally, particularly alongside Swedish bassist Lars Danielsson whose music is similarly dedicated to melody. He described Mo żdżer as, “the ideal pianist for me” and recorded both his last albums – “Pasodoble” (2007) and “Tarantella” (2009) – with him. American jazz icons such as Pat Metheny, Lester Bowie and Archie Shepp are also vocal in their appreciation of his work.
    [Show full text]
  • Gary Bartz Along with the George Colligan Trio, and MEDIA SPONSORS: the Quartet of Trumpeter Lew Soloff, Including Bassist Essiet Essiet and Drummer Sylvia Cuenca
    JAZZ SCENE April 2013 / no. 34 / GRATIS Photo by Daniel Sheehan OFFICIAL PROGRAM for the BALLARD JAZZ FESTIVAL April 17-20 BALLARD AVE JAZZ WALK GARY MAINSTAGE CONCERT BARTZ BROTHERHOOD OF THE DRUM GUITAR SUMMIT SWEDISH PANCAKE JAZZ BRUNCH VINTAGE VOLVOS / SAABS LEW POLISH JAZZ POSTERS SOLOFF COMPLETE FESTIVAL GUIDE INSIDE... ROSCOE MITCHELL GROUP Nordstrom Recital Hall / June 7 Headliners of the 2013 Ballard Jazz Festival April 20th Independent Record Store Day APRIL 20, 2013 is the National day of the record store with independent shops across the country planning in-store performances, giveaways, and more shenanigans. Let’s go shopping! www.recordstoreday.com SeattleVisit WWW.SEATTLEJAZZSCENE.COM daily for updatedJazz event listings News Bellevue Jazz Festival interact with and inspire one another, while establishing a bassist displays a lush, community-accessible home for this music, which they’ve legato singing style on Tickets Available Now been doing for several years now. a gorgeous set of un- der-heard standards, The 6th Annual Bellevue Jazz Festival returns to Downtown April 14 - Simon Henneman on his debut vocal re- Bellevue May 29 - June 2, 2013. National artists, local musi- April 21 - Ross Hammond & Vinny Golia cording. cians and high school all stars will perform in free and ticketed April 28 - Gregg Belisle-Chi venues throughout the weekend. May 5 - Beth Fleenor & Workshop Ensemble May Releases: May 12 - Christian Pincock COREY CHRIS- May 19 - Natalie Mai Hall TIANSEN, “LONE May 26 - Max Wood PRAIRIE” (ORIGIN 82640) Art of Jazz at the The guitarist takes on classic cowboy songs and Ameri- can folk music in a thoroughly modern jazz setting.
    [Show full text]
  • Las IIII Las Quartet Is a Collaboration of Creative Musicians: Ágnes Bazsinka
    las IIII Las quartet is a collaboration of creative musicians: Ágnes Bazsinka singer, composer, Szymon Bora vibraphonist, J.J. Kołacki double bassist and Bartłomiej Dybel drummer. Within this project the common need for feeling liberated as well as stimulated and challenged in music, exploring new possibilities collectively and within oneself is what's fueling the work of the four musicians. Music: Repetitive patterns, polyrhythmia, etherial tones, unconventional stylistic choices, extensive usage of instruments and voice, improvisation, storytelling and subtlety provides the basis of their sound. Dynamically and emotionally fluidly moving between lullaby and dense noise: las quartet's music is inspired by contemporary classical, jazz and collective free improvisation, experimental music, ballad, diverse world music influences, psychedelia, and whatever source seems to be interesting enough to draw from. All these components get a cohesion by visions combined with verbal, musical and non- linguistic poetry and both spontaneous and conceptual choices. Members: Szymon Bora is a vibraphonist, composer and explorer of music – from classical percussion through jazz and unique multi-arts performances to anything, what comes along and catches his attention. His energetic spirit, thirst for progress and change as well as his own vision - embodied already in his blooming original projects - provides a fertile ground with the basic ideas and compositions already present, paving the way of a journey towards forward-thinking collaborations. Currently is a student of prof. Bernard Maseli, at the Jazz department of Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. He's been working with Ryszard Bazarnik’s FluoDrums percussion group. He has been part of orchestral projects, including the Sinfonietta Cracovia Orchestra (recording of Gabor Boldoczki's album - "Oriental Trumpet Concertos"), and the Cracow Philharmonics.
    [Show full text]